Rein of Evil
by spankingfemfatale
Summary: Takes place right after book 6: For Love of Evil. Parry and Orb know their marriage is never to be consummated lest the balance of good and evil be compromised. Fate finds a way to help the two resist their urges! WARNING! Contains non-sexual spanking!
1. A Fateful Day

This fan-fiction is based on the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony. It occurs just after book six; For Love of Evil.

Dedicated to and written for my lovely wife, Jenna. Love you, baby. (By my most awesome husband, Jason! =D)

Chapter 1: A Fateful Day.

Parry lay amazed in his bed, a large richly adorned bed that boasted a huge elaborate canopy with silken red sheets draped about it and on it in swirls of soft pattern.

Beside him sleeping lay the prone form of a beautiful woman, and though Parry had been in bed with many beautiful women, some arguably the most voluptuous and sexual creatures to have walked the earth, this one was silhouetted by his love for her, which made her appear all the more beautiful.

He stared up at the canopy above him, letting out a long breath. Only a day ago he had lost everything; the chance of having this woman had never seemed real, and he had given up his office as Satan, the Incarnation of Evil for what he thought to be vain pursuit of her.

His eyes ran across her sleeping body again. There had been a hidden hope all along, that now realized stunned him with it's possibility. To think that the Prince of Lies could ever be betrothed to Gaea, Incarnation of Nature, one of the supporters of good, and that they were lovers as well was hard to believe.

Jolie, the spirit who inhabited the Incarnation, Orb, claimed the technicality that Parry was actually making love to her since she, a previous wife of centuries past, was in control of Orb's actions during intercourse. Parry knew that it was a flimsy excuse, though, since Orb was well aware of what happened and partook evenly when they were having sex.

Making love to both women simultaneously left him feeling a little awkward; even in all his centuries of sexual deviancy with multiple women, fucking Lilah in multiple forms felt very different from the passionate love he had with his wives, even if Jolie was technically widowed from him with her death.

He lay staring at her for a while, the form she wore now was that of Orb, which indicated that both women slept. The spirit of Jolie did not require sleep but going without such caused discomfort, so she rested. If Jolie had been awake, the body of his wife would be changed by her powers to look like his first betrothed.

All illusion and delusion of the mind... but embraced as reality. Parry smiled; having had the title of Master of Deception for centuries had taught him to appreciate such a subtle but beautiful lie, and he glowed with warmth as he watched them.

Later that week Parry tentatively made a house call on Gaea at her house in Purgatory, a castle secreted behind nearly impassible jungles, rivers, and oceans that Gaea had complete autonomic control of.

Gaea let him in, discreetly of course, since she was not known to harbor the Prince of Lies in her domain.

He asked if Jolie was with her and when her passionate response was to begin removing his pants, he grabbed at her hands, "Wait... perhaps here is not the place for this, since we are so close to the other incarnations in their own abodes..."

Orb smiled up at him; Jolie had been so fixed on this that she seemed to have forgotten to don her own appearance: right now she resembled Orb in her natural form, a healthy slender young woman with a beautiful face. "Nonsense, love. Here in the castle of Gaea Nature decides who comes in or goes out, and none will be the wiser of what befalls you here."

Parry smirked, one eyebrow raising, "You make it sound as if you intend some calamity for me."  
>In response Gaea used her powers on him and Parry was thrown into a frenzy of lust more powerful than he had ever felt, his stiffening member sorely demanding release. His wife slowly unwrapped him, taunting him with sultry lips. "I do plan on taking this with or without your permission," she purred.<p>

-  
>Elsewhere, in the Web of Fate, Niobe sat on a chair weaved or silken strands and pondered, the inner voices of the other two Aspects of Fate seeking to council her on the thread she held between her out-stretched fingers.<p>

This thread belonged to Orb, her daughter, and she had checked it due to the recent tumult in her poor child's life, to see how she was handling things. She had not expected to find Satan's thread tying back onto Orb's again, and certainly not in the fashion of lovers.

Niobe, whose office was Lachesis, the Aspect of Fate who measured the threads of life, had at first been filled with anger. Atropos, the Aspect whose role it was to cut the threads was quick to comment then, "They are doing it now, you should work around her defenses while she is distracted, get into that castle, and spank them both."

Niobe blushed a little at Atropos' forthright approach to her anger, and shook her head as Clotho, the Aspect who weaves the threads spoke, "Not now! That would be highly improper! We are the ones who let Satan free from his confinement in Hell. We are partly responsible; after all, we admitted to him that we recognize his love for Orb."

Niobe shook her head again, giving way to anger again, "And we made it clear that he could not consummate that love or his marriage!"

"Face it, " cut in Atropos, "You are more upset that Orb went behind your back, and that unruly girl is at least as much at fault. They both need to be brought to task, and if it shames them, so be it."

Clotho responded, "But she is also in love! You have been in love, Niobe, can you not extend them the courtesy of at least waiting until tomorrow to address this?"

Niobe nodded, bringing her countenance under control with a deep breath. "I had no intention of barging in." She pushed a lock of hair back into place. "Besides, the harm is already done, best to focus on what to do about it."

Atropos begrudgingly assented, "Well, I think you should approach her first, she is family, and you'll need her in line to get him where it counts."

Parry glanced around the empty bedroom. Was Orb/Julie doing something different today? A cat and mouse game perhaps? He really did enjoy the assertiveness and playfulness of his wives, it was a refreshing trait after being Lord of Hell for so long.

"Jolie?"

No answer. "Orb?"

Still only silence. Gaea had to be here, though, since admittance to this castle was otherwise impossible, so Parry calmly began his search of the many rooms the keep boasted. "What are we playing at today, dear?"

Parry froze as he passed into an simple guest bedroom immediately across from Orb's room. Orb sat on the bed, her face in her hands, crying. Beside her stood Niobe, regarding him will a cool stare.

Shaking his head to clear his disbelief and attempting to bring his guilty surprise in check, Parry finally spoke, his tone one of dismay and burgeoning anger. "What have you done to make her cry so...?" He moved closer to where Orb sat, "Orb, are you all right?"

Niobe stepped between them, and Orb's head was still bowed, her face still turned away from him. She continued to cry as Niobe spoke, "Satan, seat yourself."

Parry's mouth twisted in repressed rage. "How dare you! You have taken advantage of your relationship to Gaea to bring her low in her own home! What kind of mother..."

Niobe raised her own voice to cut him off, "The kind of mother who brings her errant child back in line, and I said sit!"

Parry's face paled a bit at the authoritative tone and he realized belatedly why it was that Niobe was here; she had obviously discovered their tryst. She was after all Fate, and hiding social interactions of any sort from her bordered on impossible.

Parry redoubled his stance as his annoyance grew. He had tested Niobe on many occasions and perhaps knew her better than she knew herself. "What right do you have to that, you gave her up the moment it was convenient to do so!"

Niobe blanched as doubt crept into her face, but no sooner had she faltered than her Aspect changed to that of a much older woman, whose face betrayed nothing but righteous fury as Fate raised a hand and twitched a finger.

The slight motion had drastic effects as an almost invisible strand of thread began to weave itself around Parry's feet, drawing them close and tripping him up. Atropos slammed the heel of her hand into him and he was shoved back into the chair behind him.

Parry was caught so thoroughly in surprise by the violence of the attack that Atropos had bound him with yet more thread to the chair so that he could not move at all before he even thought to resist her. Now, of course, it was too late; he could not use his magic with his hands tied.

The old woman leaned close, her gravely voice threatening, "You may be old, boy, but you're not wise. You're only digging a deeper grave by railing against Fate."

Parry's fury was unmatched now, and he practically frothed at the mouth as he spat at the crone, "Why can't we be together? Because God says so? The system in place isn't fair, and you know it!"

Atropos snarled but bit back her tongue, suddenly leaning back into a more relaxed stance as Niobe resurfaced in her Lachesis form. "Your love for her is a virtue, but as the Father of Lies, your mission is to sow evil and to use every tool at your disposal, and my daughter shall not be your tool."

Parry's mouth made a hard line as he scowled at Niobe, but he could not readily claim that what she said was false; given the chance, he would have to use Gaea's power for his own agenda should it come to it, as his goal to replace God was paramount.

Niobe's own face set in determined anger as she nodded at him. "Your silence speaks well enough. You are allowed to speak to her, as cooperation between Incarnations is often necessary, but you shall never touch my daughter again under penalty of punishment!"

Parry gritted his teeth, "Who are you to arbitrate my judgement?"

Niobe's countenance hardened, "You have told us yourself; God is occupied. My own judgement's and sentences will have to suffice. After all, who else is powerful enough to carry out such work?"

Parry's face was red with his rising ire. "Such injustice! You're not even going to pretend to have a council of my peers, i.e. the other Incarnations, to vote on the one-sided matter of you all versus me!"

Niobe turned. "Goodbye, Satan. Do not cross me."

Once she was away from the room, the strands binding his hands faded to nothing and Parry was free to move. He took Orb into his arms, but Gaea surprised him by pushing away. "I-I'm sorry, Parry, but we can't." She continued to sob as she stood somewhat shakily and ran from the room.

Parry stared after her in shock and horror. Eventually his mental faculties kicked back into gear and he shouted as he bolted after her, "What? What did she do to you? Orb, are you okay?"

Orb held up a splayed hand to halt him as he approached, her face still turned away as if ashamed. "No, stop. We can't do this, she is right; you will have to use me, and our silly game doesn't negate the ill effect it will have if I extend my aid to your efforts."

Parry stood stunned. He blew up in renewed anger, "You assume my rule would be ill? You know me better than that! I may be the Lord of Evil but I want what is best for us all! Please... please tell me what she has done to you..."

Orb still resisted, not meeting his eye as he took her hands in his own. "Parry, we can't touch now, even despite my mother Jolie is not within me, she disappeared when that bitch Atropos showed."

Parry's eyebrows shot up; he was certainly unfamiliar with sweet Orb ever calling anyone such a strong term. He held her closer still despite her objection, "Never-mind that, we have already admitted on all sides it was just a scheme to be together."

Parry turned her to face him and Orb met his eyes reluctantly. Parry's face shown with his deep feeling for her and his eyes spoke of pain that cut her deeply. She turned her head, "I... I can't...!"

Parry shook her by the shoulders in frustration, his voice cracking, "You can! I promise I will make you happy... this I swear! Just allow me a chance, you know I am not lying to you, that you alone can trust my every word!"

Orb wiped at her eyes and seemed to struggle a while longer before finally nodding to him as she sunk to his chest in defeat. "I'm sorry, Parry. Mother will take convincing, but she must know a way this can work."

Parry clutched her tightly, also nodding. "It may take time, but I will speak to her. Even that frigid hag Atropos will have to come around eventually. Meanwhile..."

Parry ran his hands along her warm body, kissing her deeply. Orb responded, and their movements became lustful. As Parry's hand clutched her firm bottom, however, she flinched and pushed away. "I'm sorry, but not now. Let us settle this matter with her first."

Parry took a deep breath, pushing down his sizable libido. "Very well, a rain check. I will visit her now." He exited in a heightened state of frustration.

Niobe was waiting for him when he knocked on the webbed door to the cocoon-like structure she called home. The door opened almost instantly, and she beckoned he enter.

Parry almost smiled, glad to see they were started on a note of civility, and thinking perhaps that her expectancy of his visit might portend to her knowing that she must eventually bend to his need to be with his wife.

Niobe motioned for him to sit on a comfortable soft couch and he did so, seating herself across from him in a similar chair, also made of myriad strands of spider's silk. "Please, Satan, let's be direct; what brings you?"

Parry smiled at her, "I know you said things to me in the heat of the moment, and I understand how you feel regarding my office. I am grateful that you rescued me from a cruel fate, be certain, but of all things you could ask of me this is the one I cannot accept."

Niobe lifted an eyebrow, "Cannot accept?"

Parry nodded, his expression serious. "You cannot tell a man not to lay with his wife, it is impossible. I spoke to Orb, and she feels the same way. There is no reason we..."

Niobe cut him off, her expression inquisitive, "You convinced my daughter to agree to this?"

Parry nodded, half-laughing. "Of course! What do you expect? She loves me as I love her, and..."

Niobe stood, her eyes listless, her head half-cocked as if listening to inner voices, and she responded as if to those unheard voices. "She has agreed?"

Parry was dumbfounded by the strange and rude actions of his host, "...What?"

Niobe ignored his irritation and spoke again to those spirits he could not observe. "Do what you must, when the moment comes."

Parry opened his mouth again to protest this offensive behavior, but Niobe gave him a withering stare now and addressed him directly. "You have no choice in this, you must accept, or you use my daughter to thwart Good! Your convincing her to this only cements my belief that your hand must be stopped here."

Parry allowed his agitation into his voice as he stood, irate. "I have no choice? I am Satan, the Incarnation of Evil, and I will not be balked by you, lesser Incarnation!"

Niobe smiled, and Parry felt he had made a mistake somewhere. She voiced it even as it occurred to him how foolish he had been. "Lesser, perhaps, but not here in my home, my web which you have so readily walked into."

Parry glanced at the portal they had used to enter nervously and discovered that it had in fact sealed behind them, the thread surely as strong as tempered steel in this domain. He cleared his throat as he returned his gaze to Niobe. "Alright, you have me trapped here. So then what now? You can't seriously think you'll keep me here for long?"

Niobe nodded, but Parry wasn't sure if it was to him. As if to answer the question, Fate's form shifted, once more taking on the likeness of Atropos. Parry stepped back, hands raising defensively, "Don't try me, you old cunt."

Atropos gave him a winning smile, her snaggled teeth making the simple gesture menacing. She pointed at him with one weathered hand, a talon-like fingernail taunting him. "Or what? You'll use your illusions to fool me?"

Her hands slowly turned in a familiar pattern and Parry leapt back, but had nowhere to go. He pointed his own fingers menacingly, "You know I command the fires of Hell, push me and you will taste them!"

Atropos actually laughed at him! Her piercing shriek of laughter peeled out and resounded in the small room as she raised her hands the rest of the way, strands of thread binding Parry where he stood, one looping around his hands and tying them together in front of himself. "They call it Hellfire because outside of Hell, it's not much use!"

Fate was protected perhaps better than any other Incarnation by invisible webs, and obviously Atropos had not fallen for Parry's desperate bluff.

Parry raged even as the tendrils pulled him over to the couch once more and laid him over one arm of it. "You realize I could destroy you for this affront! I suggest you put one of your more moderate halves in charge before you cross this line too far!"

Atropos gave him a slow smile as she reclined next to him on the couch, patting his restrained back almost affectionately. "I'm in charge for this one. The girls need to see that with smart-asses like yourself, force is what's needed."

Parry twisted in his bonds but only succeeded in looking ridiculous, his face flushing crimson in his growing embarrassment at the old woman's treatment of him. "Must I remind you that I am your elder, you fool!"

Atropos casually pulled Parry's body along the arm of the chair and into her lap so that he laid with his hips against her one leg, his chest and bound hands in front resting on the couch, his legs dangling over and off the couch's arm. "In body yeah, but you sass me like any number of punk boys I've dealt with, and I'll show you what happened to them."

Parry tried turning over, but her one arm pinned him at his back from rolling in her grip, so he turned his head to yell at her, but lost his thought as her other hand began to slap his upturned ass rhythmically. "What do you think you are doing?"

Atropos kept that same grandmotherly smile in place and continued soundly slapping his bottom, pausing only to tug at his britches so that his cheeks shone in the lamplight, exposed to her resumed pummeling. "You'll soon learn who's in charge here."

Parry was speechless for long moments, the only sound in the room the echoing sound of her hand meeting his flesh, his eyes wide in startled horror and his mouth hanging open in amazement. "You... I am an adult... an Incarnation... you can not do this...!"

Atropos gave him a knowing look, "Everyone pays the piper. If not me then someone else. You're not all bad, Satan, you just need to know that when we lay down the law, you'd best pay attention."

Parry writhed in her lap once the initial shock of what she was doing had passed, but her grip on him was more than strong enough, the soft cords binding him strong as iron. He panted with the futile effort and gave out a frustrated roar of anger. "You bitch! What do you hope to accomplish with this other than to make a more entrenched enemy?"

Atropos' smile did not fade, and her hand did not quit it's work. "You'll see that mouth of yours can only cause you more hurt. You best learn to mind me, boy."

Further infuriated by the crone's disrespectful title of 'boy', Parry went into a frenzy of kicking and twisting, but Atropos only delivered stronger sharper slaps for his effort, sometimes catching him stingingly on the thigh in a painful manner that eventually caused him to give up that sort of resistance.

Parry was livid with rage, his mouth twisted into an ugly snarl as he lashed at her with words; his only defense since his hands were indisposed. "You are a horrible excuse for a mother, Niobe, to dare step into her life so late in the game and start making demands!"

That at last seemed to breach a bit of Atropos' good mood, her lips frowning. Parry realized now that the jibe had not bettered his situation and once more felt foolish as Atropos reached over to a nearby end table and picked up a large wooden hair brush. "Don't you worry, Niobe, you're a good woman and this boy don't know what fool things he says, but we'll soon cure him of it."

Parry gasped in horror as the elderly woman swatted him hard with the improvised paddle, the sting of it far beyond that inflicted by her hand. Tears came to his eyes so great was the burning pain, the unexpected shock of it unhinging his anger with a thrill of terror as he realized she was really going to set into him now, "No, wait!"

Atropos narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, now you realize what you done? Too little too late, sonny." Her hand became a blur as she swatted his quickly reddening ass over and over and Parry gave out an unrestrained shout of primal rage and very real pain.

The indignity of the situation struck him hard as he glanced over his own shoulders to see how child-like a state she had reduced him to: his red cheeks propped up on one leg as the old crone held him in place with one arm and spanked him rapidly with the other.

Added to the mix was the fact that Parry could not force himself to stop shouting now, tears of pain and frustration flowing down his face as the horrid stinging grew with each slap of the brush. "When you reach Hell, I will be sure to see you suffer three times what you serve me here!"

Atropos whipped at his wriggling ass with the hairbrush that much harder, the solid slapping sound filling Parry's ears. "You're welcome to give me a try, son, when that day comes. For now, though, I'd mind my own butt if I were you!"

Parry choked as the sensation; he was surpassing a limit he hadn't known he had for this sort of abuse that tied in to the anxious knowledge he had that this woman may never stop: she was nothing like Niobe, and seemed to take too much pleasure in this act.

That combined with the fact that he was trapped here to her whim and most importantly that no one would be coming to Satan's aid sobered him away from his rage. Parry's mouth went dry with thought of being like this for much longer.

Parry did the only thing he could think of at this point; he appealed to Niobe. "Please, you are hurting me with this, please let us just talk and reason this out like adults!"

Atropos was the one to respond, however, and if the others had anything to say, Parry saw no evidence of it. "We tried that, you said you 'could not accept'. Some more time across my lap, and you'll beg to accept whatever the hell I tell you!"

Parry stared at her with renewed horror. This woman clearly had the reins for the durance, and seeing how he was at her mercy, and how unmerciful she was planning to be, his hope that the others might step in and stop this madness dried up like a snowball in Hell.

Parry licked his lips, his throat feeling tight as he continued to shout raggedly at the abuse to his tender backside. His stomach felt full of knots as the full implication of where this was all heading finally struck home. He looked back at Atropos with watery eyes, "Please, don't..."

Atropos gazed at him serenely, keeping her steady gait of slaps upon his upturned ass. "Finding that you might've been a fool, huh? I told you, Niobe, no matter how old, all boys can be brought around with a firm hand."

The crone's words stung, insult to injury, and Parry roared in anger, struggling once more despite the fact that he knew he couldn't break free. "Fuck you, you old cunt! Your discipline is a relic of an age past!"

Atropos only smiled and increased the tempo of the beating, increasing Parry's helpless fervor equally. He shouted until he was sore from doing so, and from struggling against his bonds and the old woman, whose status as immortal insured her arm never tired despite her apparent age.

Parry wasn't sure if they had been doing this for a few minutes or a few hours, and time stretched out to some incredible terminus it seemed. Each swing of her descending brush seemed to bridge an immense gap and he clenched sore cheeks against every impact, shouting long and loud with each strike.

Sweat stood on the Lord of Evil's face, and Atropos regarded him with a cool glance and calm voice, "If you like, we can test your theory about this whooping, and continue all night. I'll have you know, I'm game."

Parry didn't doubt her for a heart-beat, and the dawning realization that he was losing this battle of wills took hold slowly but surely, eroding his confidence as he considered what an entire evening of this kind of punishment would entail.

At last as the situation went beyond his ability to tolerate, Parry bit his lip for a long moment, then screamed out his defeat, "Fine! Alright, I will stay away from her, only please, please stop!"

Atropos giggled, and her hand slowed not an iota. "C'mon, now, you think I'm just going to take your word for it? The Father of Lies says he'll do it so we're all good now? I wasn't born yesterday, Satan."

Parry gazed at her with widened eyes, "Then why are you doing this if you are not trying to get me to agree with you?"

Atropos laughed again, "Son, I'm just whooping you for being an arrogant prick. You're done when I feel I'm done with you. You aren't bartering your way out of this, so just pucker up them cheeks and try to take it like less of a girly man."

Parry paled at her words, his heart sinking further. She wasn't looking for a promise from him? "Then this is nothing more than a cruel beating, with no purpose! How are you letting her do this, Niobe? You are a good woman!"

Atropos surprised Parry and relented her form to Niobe's shape, but the brush kept descending regardless, proving to Parry that Atropos had the full support of the Lachesis Aspect. "I try to be, but when a man like you dances the grey line with my daughter as you do, I have to make decisions that are also decidedly grey, for everyone's sake."

Parry's mouth worked in astonishment at the sight of Niobe paddling him in such a fashion, and he squirmed at the pain he had momentarily forgotten in his shock. "Please, Niobe, you cannot sanction..."

Lachesis cut him off, "I can and do. I already have a plan in place to ensure that you do not try to abuse my daughter's trust, but to carry it out I had to trap you here for a time. Since you are already here, I cannot deny Atropos' suggestion to make sure you know how serious we are, and what further defiance will cost you."

Parry's face twisted into a reflection of misery and his lower lip trembled along with his sorely tested ass in response to pain he was unable to bear but equally unable to escape. "Y-your point has been made, I bow to your superior stance..." he stated as diplomatically as he could, given his awkward position.

Niobe nodded, but did not relent. "Well you should, but remove the notion from your mind if you think your silver tongue will alleviate your suffering any sooner than has already been determined necessary."

Parry groaned and shut his eyes against the agonizing trap he found himself in. "W-what is it that you had planned to do, that you needed to delay me for?" He kicked out reflexively as a particularly painful swat wrenched him into a shout of pain.

Niobe gave him an amused smirk, "You think I would just tell you? I do not monologue like some villain in an adventure novel! That's more your style..."

Parry grimaced at the insult, but was beyond anger now, all of his mind screaming for him to escape this horrible state, the burning in his tender ass and the humiliation suffusing his tired muscles with color. He buried his head in his arms before him in abject misery, feeling the tears flowing down over his cheeks as he grunted to the beat of the hair brush's relentless assault.

More time passed, but again such a notion as time now felt fluid to Parry, since almost all was lost to the red pain and chagrin he felt at being so easily duped, so thoroughly tricked at his own game. He could not help himself any more, and heard himself beg her to stop to his great shame. "P-please... please, I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

With the same suddenness that the whole incident had begun it ended, and the threads that had bound him unfurled, leaving him breathing raggedly on the sofa as Niobe set the brush down on the table Atropos had retrieved it from.

Parry reached down with trembling fingers and tugged at his pants, but winced at the terrible jolt of pain even such soft cloth brought him as it made contact with his tortured cheeks.

Niobe leaned down and helped him pulled the britches up, her demeanor calm and sympathetic. "You will have trouble sitting for a time, hopefully you will remember this lesson each time you do."

Parry felt a flash of anger and stood as it burned through him, giving him the strength to stand on shaky legs as he glared at Niobe. "I will leave now."

Niobe nodded toward the door, and Parry took a deep breath, trying to regain as much of his composure as he could, walking unsteadily out of the now open portal. He forced himself not to rub at the painful burning sensation in his seat and retreated to Hell once clear of Niobe's domain.

Once back in familiar territory, Parry avoided Ozymandias, Nefertiti, and the rest, quickly moving to his private quarters where he stood shaking with the embarrassment of the whole thing, for the second time in his immortal career greatly shamed.


	2. Nature's Own

Chapter 2: Nature's Own

Parry thought long and hard on what he might do to draw the score equal, so to speak. He sat in his throne room in Hell proper, telling Ozymandias that he did not wish visitors so that he could focus entirely on the task at hand: Revenge.

Niobe would pay for humiliating him in such a fashion, just as the previous Incarnations of a time before her position as Fate payed for shaming him in the past. Let no mortal or immortal think they could act against him without swift repercussions.

He had placed the details of such revenge plots in the hands of underlings in the past, but that had almost always ended in a botch somewhere. He decided he would enact this errand himself, to ensure it succeeded smoothly.

Parry thought for a long while, and after that time, he rose, straightening his collar and smiling coolly. He strode from the room with purpose, shouting at Ozymandias in the adjoining room as he passed, "Handle the plaintiffs for me, I have work above to do."

Parry watched the long sea vessel pull into port. It was an oil liner and it was stopping to drop off it's barrels of the crude black substance before it would make it's way back out to the platform it had come from.

Parry had an envelope in one hand filled with crisp one hundred dollar bills, the other hand supported a small box tied with two lines of twine almost in the fashion a ribbon might be tied around a gift.

Parry smiled at the thought. A gift to Niobe, in appreciation for all of her efforts. He started down toward the approaching ship at a brisk walk. Best if he spoke to the captain before the sailor had time to disembark.

"Parry?"

Parry jumped in alarm, whirling to see who had addressed him, his heart hammering at being caught in the act. "Who?"

Orb stood behind him, giving him a quizzical look. "Parry, what are you doing here?"

Parry stared at her, confused. "...Business. What are you doing here?"

Orb furrowed her brow in concern, "Business? I thought you were going to speak to mother about us?"

Parry flushed crimson at the thought and scratched at his neck distractedly. "Yes, well... your mother is going to take more convincing than originally thought. I..."

Parry looked back at Orb's open face and sighed. "Alright, I'm not going to lie to you; your mother didn't come around at all and that is why I am here."

Orb's confusion seemed to intensify as she glanced around at the shipyard. "What does this place have to do with mother?"

Parry smiled tightly at her. "Your dear mother needs to learn that when she pushes me, I push back. So I am here at a key point for a large portion of her tapestry."

Orb's eyes widened as she guessed where this was going. "You are going to..."

Parry finished the sentence for her, his smile widening, "...create a giant tangle in her web, one she will never manage to straighten that she will remember as a personal failing for all time."

Orb seemed reluctant, "Isn't that a little extreme? What has she said to you that could possibly merit this sort of response?"

Parry blushed again, clearing his throat. Regardless of his wish to be honest with Orb, this last bit was far too embarrassing. "She adamantly refused to leave us to own own devices and threatened to use her powers as Fate to interfere." Technically correct.

Orb did not seem convinced. "What then are you going to do here, then?"

Parry swept his hand out to indicate the massive tanker behind them. "Once I pad the palm of the captain of this vessel sufficiently, he will transport this package to the oil rig his boat belongs to, well off shore."

Orb eyed the box. "And what is in the box?"

Parry shrugged dismissively. "Nothing particularly fancy, just an explosive device timed to go off in three hours, which should place the boat between here and the rig on a return trip. The explosion should rupture the vessel enough to allow the oil it carries to be freed into the local habitat and after that..."

Orb gasped, appalled. "...Chaos!"

Parry smiled again. "Exactly! From what I have divined with my own magic, this event should cause a great deal of problems such as un-fated deaths and loss of work, at the very least changing many peoples lives in drastically different ways than Niobe's tapestry now dictates."

Orb scolded him, "I know you are the Prince of Evil in title, but what sort of person would cause such damage simply to make such a simple point?"

Parry frowned, "What I am doing is really the only way I can affect Niobe in a meaningful way, you know that. Not only that, but it is not often I can find such a gap in her defenses concerning her work, I have to take this opportunity!"

Orb's face took on an entirely neutral expression, "Very well, love. I leave you to decide what is right." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then turned, disappearing in a vaporous cloud of mist.

Parry stared at the place she had been. This needed to be done; he couldn't let Niobe win, and he couldn't let what she had done to him go unanswered. He turned on his heel, marching up into the boat to bribe the captain.

Parry visited his house in the astral plane to watch the purgatory news network which was routed there, as it was to each Incarnation. As expected, the spying bored middling ghosts of the grey lands had miraculously known what he had been up to, right down to which boat he had visited, though the network admitted it knew not the reason he had gone there.

This worried Parry; he had come here to hear the news on this special television reporting the evil he had sown, to be pointing at him for a massive oil spill in the Pacific, but the dull reporter continued his monologue without a single mention of what befell the boat.

Parry paced back and forth as the news shifted to Satan's unexpected and rare visit to Purgatory and speculation as to what mischief the Father of Lies was up to so near the dwellings of his rival Incarnations. He reached up and waved his hand and the television cut off.

Parry rubbed his chin in thought. The possibilities ran before his rational mind; it was unlikely the mortal captain had bothered opening the package: Parry had selected him for his uncaring greed. He had hidden the item himself, so knew that accidental discovery by another party would have been out of the question...

He sat down slowly on a recliner, wincing a bit from the recovering bruises still there from the previous day. His face was set in a scowl as he determined the only real answer to the question of why his plan had failed: Gaea had decided to interfere. She was the only one who had known, and Orb was not beyond such acts of heroism.

Parry sighed and put his head in his hands. This complicated things. How was he ever going to gain the fear and respect he needed from Niobe if her daughter, his love, opposed him? He sat for a long while thinking.

Gaea allowed him in without a word, so Parry relaxed; at least they weren't back at the point where she forbid him entry to her realm. She smiled when he approached her dais and gestured for him to go with her to a more comfortable setting as she stood.

Parry smiled back , nodded and then followed her into a living space adorned with couches made of intertwining branches hung with springy, soft moss.

Orb sat next to him on the couch, her clean smell reminding Parry of spring flowers and her crossed leg exposed up to the thigh threatening to distract him from the matter at hand. He cleared his throat then broke the tense silence, "Dearest, I wanted to ask you something."

Orb raised her eyebrows in askance for him to continue, so he dove right in, "I checked up on the progress of the package I delivered earlier today..." He waited to see if Orb gave any response or perhaps confessed to her part in this.

On seeing that she remained expressionless, he continued, annoyed. "...It would seem for whatever reason the charge never went off as intended, and no incident whatsoever befell that carrier."

Parry paused to allow the information to sink in, but Orb only shrugged. "Perhaps it was for the best; you know I could not condone what you were planning there."

Parry gritted his teeth to bring his temper into check. "Now my presence at the docks has been discovered, of course, and Niobe will never fall for such a ruse again." His voice raised an octave despite his attempt at control as his ire rose.

Orb stood and glared back. "Well, there is no reason to shout at me as if I did it..." She crossed her arms over her chest as she saw the truth in his face, "You think I did this personally! To think that I argued on your behalf!"

Parry was confused a moment, "Argued with who?"

Orb made a dismissive gesture, waving her arm through the air. "It doesn't matter anymore. You know, they are right, you are self-centered and a poor judge of character."

Parry stood as well, his fists balling in anger at her accusation. "I was only doing this so that we could be together; I was doing this for you!"

This only seemed to make Orb even more angry. "And caught in this shallow scheme your lies are easy to see through. I thought you said you would only speak truth to me, or are you so deluded you actually think your actions were in my best interest?"

Parry felt as if he had been slapped in the face. This was all Niobe's doing, he was certain; she must be the person Orb had argued with concerning him. Niobe must have gone to her mother concerning his attempted sabotage and Fate had twisted her further against him.

He raised a finger at Gaea, his voice low and dangerous, "You must choose who your loyalty is to. Do you stand with me or against me?"

Orb stared at him for a long while, visibly relaxing. She swept a curl of light brown hair back into place before replying calmly. "This is what mother was accusing you of, the issue we can not skirt: that you will seek to use me as a tool rather than treat me as an equal."

Parry shook with anger to hear Orb quote her mother, to be reminded of the brainwashing he seemed powerless to stop. He shouted now, not bothering to restrain himself. "You have your own mind, I am only asking you to pick a side!"

Orb set her jaw, "And what if I don't want to choose sides, Parry? What if I would like to be a good daughter and a good wife?"

Parry scowled, "That is no option; Niobe won't let it be."

Orb glared back. "Actually, mother had a way to make this work."

Parry glanced at her guardedly. Niobe had suggested a way for them to remain together? "Do tell."

Orb smiled at him smugly, "Instead of me choosing your side, you choose mine."

Parry frowned. "Explain."

Orb walked over, taking Parry gently by the arm, and he allowed her to pull him back down onto the sofa so they were sitting side by side. "Let us start at the beginning, then."

Gaea glanced around a pillar to see her mother had made it down the twisting path that led to her castle's front gates. She smiled and waved.

Niobe looked up and smiled back as she hiked her dress up a little, stepping nimbly from one stepping stone to the next to cross the shallow moat that now encircled Gaea's home. Depending on who was trying to cross it, this moat could be an ocean or a crocodile-filled death trap, but for Fate, it was easily managed.

Orb hugged her as they met before the massive door, "Mother, what a pleasant surprise; I was not expecting you. You are lucky I was not away on business as I most often am!"

Jolie piped in, from the recesses of Orb's mind. "She is Fate." Orb could imagine a wry smile on the ghost's face.

Niobe winked at her daughter with a smug smile. "I don't really need to be lucky, as you can guess."

Orb laughed and showed her mother inside. "What do I have the honor of this visit for, or are you just passing through?"

Niobe's face became more serious as the two of them walked down the hallway that ran the length of the many rooms that spanned the enormous castle. "I have come to talk to you of a grave matter."

Orb could feel Jolie's attention focusing in on Niobe's words.

Orb's brow knitted in worry. "Pray tell, what is it?"

Niobe stopped and took her daughter's hands in her own, her face full of concern. "I fear you are allowing Satan to manipulate you. You are young and impulsive, brash and headstrong. I do not think you realize..."

Jolie's anger came first, "She does not know Parry!"

Orb pulled her hands free from her mother's grip, aghast at the words she heard and immediately angry. "Then you do not know me! I would never so easily cow to the will of another!"

Niobe's attitude remained one of sympathy so Orb was having difficulty maintaining her anger. "I know! But this is a creature centuries old whose entire life has been built on deceit! His ways are subtle... do you remember how it is you became married?"

Jolie was quiet; testament to the fact that Niobe had a point concerning Parry's successful deceptions past.

Orb turned her head away angrily, her features flushed with shame. All the same, she did not feel she could allow herself to buy into what her mother told her. Her voice was soft, subdued as she responded, "What we have is real, I know this. His love for me is genuine."

Orb could feel Jolie agreeing inside her, that the other woman felt the same deep conviction.

Niobe nodded, taking her daughter's hand again. "I believe that. What concerns me is that the love of a person like him could be something entirely different than conventional love. That is could be dangerous to you."

Orb shook her head and met Niobe's eyes defiantly. "He would never harm me!"

Jolie once more added to the conversation, even though Niobe could not hear her. She could exit her host to speak, but seemed satisfied to leave it mostly to the other two to sort their family disagreement. "Indeed, he is a good man, despite his office."

Niobe studied her eyes, searching. "Are you certain he would not make exception for his ultimate goal and perhaps harm you in a 'minor' way to fulfill his agenda? 'Minor' being subject to his own scales, which he does not share with God, of course."

Orb had to look away after a moment, unable to suppress all doubt. She could feel Jolie stir: the ghost was just as conflicted. "Mother, I wish you to leave."

Niobe nodded, but did not turn for the door. "I will, but we have one other matter we must address before I go."

Orb watched her mother as she said this, curious as to why Niobe seemed to blush a little as she said it. "Yes, mother, what is it?"

Niobe folded her hands together and fidgeted a moment. "Oh, I'm no good at this sort of thing. Why don't you do it then?"

Orb stared in confusion. "Do what?"

Jolie remarked suddenly, "She wasn't talking to you."

Niobe's Lachesis form abruptly shifted into the older Atropos form, the surly elder regarding Orb with a scowl. "She ain't never punished you before, and doesn't know how."

Orb was shocked. "Punish me? Whatever for?"

Atropos only glared at her with unwavering intensity and eventually it occurred to Orb what the old lady was eluding to. "Oh, that." Orb found her anger again. "Since when is it wrong for a married woman to share her bed with her husband?"

Atropos waved a finger at her. "Don't sass me, girl. You know perfectly well what you did was wrong or you wouldn't have hid it."

Orb was quiet again; she couldn't refute the guilt she felt for sneaking off the see Parry, regardless of how right the actual act had felt.

Atropos grunted at her, the old woman waving her along as she stepped into a side room and sat in a nearby chair. "Have a seat." She indicated the bed across from her. This was a guest bedroom, with just these two articles of furniture save a dresser.

Orb started at feeling of authority this old woman radiated, but held her ground. "Who are you to make demands of me in my own home?"

Atropos pointed again, angrily. "Did your mother raise you to speak to your elders that way?"

Orb blushed, humbled by Atropos' tone of voice. "I apologize, Miss Atropos. I will sit and we shall talk, but respect for my elder should be returned with respect for my house." She moved to seat herself cross-legged on the edge of the bed closest the crone.

Atropos nodded gruffly, the closest she would get to courteous, thought Orb. The elderly woman lifted an instructional finger. "You are a good girl, and your mother knows it. However, just because your an Incarnation now doesn't mean you get to promise her one thing, and do another."

Orb thought on what Atropos was getting at, and realized that it must concern her discussion with Niobe concerning her need to never consummate her marriage. Orb looked down, a little ashamed. She had quite ardently swore to Niobe that she would not meet Parry in that way.

Orb argued, "I was merely acting as host for Jolie, Parry's lover past. So technically..."

Atropos' brow wrinkled in annoyance. "Oh, posh, that's a load of bull, and you know it."

Orb went quiet, looking at the floor again. Why should she feel so guilty for doing something she didn't feel was wrong?

As if to answer her thought, Atropos interjected. "You feel bad because you knew that anything that takes so much explaining to make right can never be anything but wrong. You disobeyed your mother, Orb, no matter how you wanted to reason it out."

Orb pouted a bit, looking at Atropos defiantly. "How am I to be punished, then? I must see Parry regularly as part of my work, and you can't lock me away; what I do must be done."

Atropos smiled. "Honey, I 'm grandmother of seven; I've punished spoiled children afore you were born. There's always a way, and it doesn't have to be complicated." She rose and moved over to sit next to Orb on the bed, then patted her knee with an expectant look.

Orb stared in confusion for a moment before realization dawned on her. "You want to spank me?" She stood, shaking a finger vehemently at Atropos. "You said you would respect my house! How could you intend to humiliate me and keep your promise?"

Atropos scowled. "It's about promise breaking that you sorely need this. I'm not dissing you; this' a time-honored punishment. Now're you gonna continue to sass me, or take your due like a lady?"

Orb was silent, staring at the old woman who still patted her knee and watched her. She sighed, "Fine, if you feel this will serve the justice you so crave. I hope my mother also sees that I am willing to take responsibility for my actions."

Atropos nodded, still smiling, and Orb laid herself out across the crone's lap. Atropos shifted with her so that she lay comfortably across her knees, Orb's upper body relaxing on the bedding and her legs draped on the mattress on the opposite side of Atropos.

The crone surprised her by grabbing her dress, insubstantial as it was since it was a figment of Orb's conscious desire to look the part of Gaea. Apparently, as a fellow Incarnation, Atropos had some level of control over Orb's glamor.

Having a fistful of Orb's dress thus, Atropos lifted it up and away to bare Nature's rear, since Orb had not thought to conjure underwear; what ever would the need for them be? Orb gasped in surprise and yelped at the rudeness of the act, irritated. "Is that necessary?"

Atropos looked at her sternly. "I thought you were gonna take this well, but I can see you're goin to whine the whole time. How do you expect this to hurt if your dress is in the way?"

Orb gulped. She had been so focused on getting this whole affair over with and alleviating her guilty conscious to set things right, she hadn't given thought to this significant detail. She braced herself; it was just a spanking and she was an adult, no big deal, right?

Atropos begin to slap her bared ass with the flat of her hand and Orb jumped at the sting of it. It felt a lot worse than expected, especially the longer it continued; it seemed like each swat added to the pain of the one previous, and that the multiplication of this feeling was endless.

Orb furrowed her brow, her hands in front grabbing hold of the sheets of the bed. Her feet pointed toes into the mattress as she began to strain against the pain, her back arching a bit. Pointless; she knew that tensing her body could only make the experience worse.

Orb focused all of her being on trying to ignore the rhythmic pain, but the slapping sound could be heard with each swat Atropos delivered, and being comfortable upon the soft bed only made the feeling conveyed that much more intense; it was all that could be felt.

Orb trembled, frowning. She tried going to another place in her own mind, and that was when she realized she was alone.

'Jolie?'

The ghost did not reply, and could not be felt. 'Jolie?'

Had she abandoned Orb to this fate, to serve it alone? Orb realized that she had subjected herself to this degrading punishment, and could understand if Jolie had decided not to partake. Still, her absence left Orb feeling alone and abandoned.

The momentary shock of realizing Jolie was missing had sufficiently distracted Orb for a moment, but the pain set back in and Orb realized that as this got worse, she wasn't going to be able to retreat from it in any fashion.

Her hands shook with the desire to reach back and block Atropos' descending hand, and Orb finally admitted to herself that she needed this to stop now. "I-I think that is enough, don't you?"

Atropos responded with a hearty cackle. "Hardly! Darlin, we're just gettin started."

Orb looked back over her shoulder anxiously, feeling tears of pain creeping into her eyes. "Y-you are being unfair... you know what I did was for love, and that I meant no ill will!" She reached back now, trying to protect her sore cheeks, which were a brightening shade of red, she noticed.

Atropos casually pulled Orb's blocking hand away and pinned it to the younger woman's side without losing pace in delivering the steady slaps. She cocked an eyebrow at Orb. "Since when do girls tell their mothers the spankin's over?"

Orb blushed, chagrined and embarrassed that the punishment was having so much of an effect on her. This didn't change the fact that she didn't think herself capable of taking much more of it, though: the pain was quickly becoming unbearable and she squirmed.

Atropos pinned her legs in place with one of her own surprisingly strong legs, and fully held Orb was shamed enough to become angry at the ignoble position Atropos now held her in. "You are in my house, and you are not my mother, regardless of whether she shares your body!"

Atropos grimaced, but her tone was authoritative, and rang out sharp and strong despite her apparent years. "Your mother wants this for you but is too spineless to do it herself... sorry, Niobe, but it's true. She has been there for you, and that's enough, so for now your grandma Atropos is gonna take care of what you need. As for the place; I'll tan your hide wherever I need to, girl."

Orb lay agape, mollified. Atropos was good to her word, spanking Orb vigorously, and the young Aspect of Nature wriggled a pained sort of dance in her lap. Orb felt the tears escape her eyes and she shouted as she cried, "You are being cruel, mother only doesn't want to treat me in such a callous way!"

Atropos gave her a piercing look. "If you really think what I'm doing isn't deserved you have the power to stop me here in your castle. Do it, then."

Orb struggled but felt as if held in a vice. Did Atropos share the strength of three women with the other two Aspects of Fate? She panicked, beyond her ability to cope with the way this was making her feel, and screamed out with each swat. "No! Please let me go!"

Atropos narrowed her eyes, studying Orb. "No. I suppose we should get to the next part of this. The part where we tell you what we need for you to do to make things right."

Orb glanced back to see that her ass had become a deep shade of red, the burning heat she felt there maddening, making it hard to think. "J-just tell me, I am listening."

Atropos smiled. "Alright, then. When Satan returns, we want you not to fuck him, we clear?"

Orb blinked tears away, shocked by Atropos' directness. When she found herself, she gritted her teeth in anger. "That is not your place to enforce; the promise was one thing, but I have a right to my husband."

Atropos' eyes grew hard and she began to spank Orb in a frenzy of swats that left Gaea gasping for breath between screams of pain as she fully arched her back and kicked her legs. "You can do whatever you want, just expect the bad stuff to bite you back! Don't run that crap by me, you already know you're wrong, or you'd be free right now!"

Orb felt a loss of control, as if Atropos pinned her spirit as well as her body. Did she really agree with Atropos on some level? Was that why she could not seem to free herself? She couldn't turn to mist or control her environment; it seemed as if the burning pain pushed against her concentration, but was that it?

The crone slowed again back to the first pace and Orb took long deep breaths between occasional shouts of agony. "O-okay, I will refrain from making love to Parry, at least until a suitable alternative has been found!"

Atropos nodded. "Good. The second thing..."

Orb's temper flared, she felt this was too much, and the situation she found herself in with this old woman making demands of her while she was so vulnerable stung perhaps even more sharply than the crone's hand. "I have already shown myself willing, why do you not let me up now!"

Atropos frowned and began immediately to spank the trembling girl even worse than the last time she had accelerated. Orb's screams filled the room, and Atropos yelled to be heard over her. "I told you, I'll not be sassed! I'm not a pushover like your mother! Damn right, Niobe, shut up."

Orb stared back at Atropos with horror as tears drained down her flushed cheeks once the older woman had slowed again. "I-I'm sorry. I won't talk back anymore." She said as her bottom lip trembled in fear.

Atropos gave her a firm look, then nodded, and further surprised Orb by shifting back into her mother's form, who stopped spanking her, and gently pulled her skirt back down over her sore bottom. "The second thing, daughter, is that if Satan pushes this issue, you are to send him to talk to me."

When Orb gave her a confused look, Niobe replied simply, "I have a plan, but shall withhold it until the Father of Lies refuses your own objection to a cessation of your closer relationship."

Orb cried, and Niobe took her into her arms, stroking her long hair with on hand. "But mother, I love him!"

Niobe's heart broke, and her voice cracked, "I know, my love, but you must do this, even if only until a viable solution can be orchestrated. Do you understand?"

Orb did not reply, but Niobe felt they had reached an silent agreement of sorts. She stood and Orb folder her legs under her, wincing as she hugged herself and wiped at her tearful eyes. "This is all going..."

The sound of Parry's strong voice rang out from down the hall. Niobe nodded to herself then glanced down at her daughter. "Remember our agreement."

Parry stared at Orb throughout the entire story, amazed at the similarity of her own experience. He felt even more angry now; Niobe had beaten her daughter as well, shamed them as a unit?

"But she mentioned no plan to me, unless..." Parry brought himself up short. Even though Orb had mentioned her own embarrassing escapade, he still not feel ready to speak of the lingering pain in his own posterior.

Parry jumped as another form entered the scene: Jolie, floating out of Orb to sit on the other side of him, despite the fact that she did not need to interact with the environment or need to rest. "That is not all, though, husband. There is another part to tell..."


	3. The Price of Evil

Chapter 3: The Price of Evil

Parry had not even thought to ask if Jolie was present before, so was surprised to see her enter the scene. "Jolie! Where have you been?"  
>Jolie smiled and touched his arm, her incorporeal hand nontheless feeling solid. "That is what I will tell now, if you will allow me."<br>Parry leaned back into the soft couch. "Very well, I am very interested to hear why you left Orb when she was attacked by Atropos." His voice was stern and reproachful.  
>Jolie continued to smile, though it was strained. "Well, then, it happened like this..."<p>

Jolie spoke to her host, regarding the comment that Niobe, Orb's mother, had just said. "She wasn't talking to you."  
>Jolie strained to see Niobe was talking to, knowing it must be one of the other two Aspects of Fate that resided in her. Suddenly Jolie was not alone, another feminine conciousness pushing into her with great force. "Hello, Jolie. May we speak?"<br>Jolie heard the conversation Orb was now having with Atropos, but only dimly, as if from very far away. She focused on the source of the voice and could feel more than see the outline of a woman. No, two women who were one woman. It hurt Jolie's mind to stare at and so she stopped trying to make out more detail.  
>The voice was clear now, and Jolie could almost place who it belonged to. "We could hear your side of the conversation as well, but noticed that you thought we could not. We do appreciate that you made no outstanding effort to interrupt a family concern, but we also understand that this matter is equally important to you."<br>Jolie felt the name come upon her of whose melodious voice this must be, as she thought of who associated to fate she must be speaking to. "Clotho? How did you come to be in Orb's mind? I thought the three Aspects of Fate could not seperate?"  
>Another voice spoke, and Jolie recognized Niobe immediately. "We are not in Orb's mind, we have pulled you into ours. You were questing for the source of our thoughts, so we figured this may simplify things. While Atropos explains what must be done to Orb, we answer your questions."<br>Orb! Jolie threw her awareness on the interaction between the crone and Nature and saw that Atropos had Orb over her knee, spanking her in a manner that left Jolie stunned. "What is this?" she asked numbly.  
>If a spiritual equivilent for clearing one's throat nervously could be made, Jolie was certain she heard it now. Clotho spoke first. "Well, Atropos has her own style of dealing with issues of discipline. It is best that you are here for this part."<br>Niobe put in, "Orb can be stubborn to the point of ignoring reason, but we know that is not the case with you, Jolie. Certainly you understand that while your own mission to reunite with Satan is not evil in of itself, using Orb for that purpose can lead to evil ends."  
>Jolie was quiet for a long moment. "This is very important to you, all three of you, not just Niobe."<br>Jolie felt more than saw Niobe and or Clotho nod her head and or heads. "And more than that; all of the other Incarnations, save God of course, are deeply concerned with the most powerful of our number courting Satan."  
>Jolie took a long deep breath and closed her eyes, though neither activity had a point as a spirit. "I understand, but if this is the case, then why did the Incarnations, and especially yourself, not come between them before they fell for one another? Why wait until now so that such a division is that much more cruel?"<br>Niobe/Clotho gave her a mournful look; at least Jolie felt it was a mournful look. "You know as a good woman who was also married to Evil that things are rarely that simple."  
>Jolie was silent again for a while. "Let us assume that you all only did what you had to then, for the betterment of our world. I know you all personally, after all, and believe you to be good people to the person. Then now we ask what further is required for Fate's tapestry to align with God?"<br>Jolie sensed relief, and Niobe's voice was warm. "You are very sharp. We can only guide Orb onto a new path that will in turn aid her husband."  
>Jolie raised a spectral eyebrow. "And what is that?'<br>No answer for a moment. "We can't tell you now. We are unsure of your part in this, yet. What we can say is to let Orb and Satan make their own choices and react to those choices in the manner of the good friend you are to them."  
>Jolie was irritated. "You promised to answer my questions but are vague when I ask them? How do you expect me to assist you when you won't tell me your plans for the future?"<br>Niobe answered quickly. "It is for this reason that we do not. You lack faith, and while you are a good person, the fact that you do not trust me and the others over Parry and Orb makes you a liability to us. We hope you understand."  
>Jolie took another deep breath of nothing. "I do understand, but am no less vexed by your..." Jolie paused; she had been about to say 'meddling', but that was what Fate did, wasn't it?<br>The mental voices chimed almost in chorus. "We may not be able to tell you our plans, but if you will remain with us, we shall show you their execution, and allow you to decide where you stand in this way. Only you must promise not to interfere until we return you to Orb."  
>Jolie eyed the shifting mass of Fate's conciousness warily. Niobe had been known to beat Satan in a game of deception before. "And if I come with you, I may decide when I am to return to Orb?"<br>"You may."  
>Jolie nodded. "Very well. I'll go with you, and see what you have in mind... I mean, beyond what I see here..."<br>Laughter filled the plane they resided in and Niobe's voice caressed her again. "This will only take a moment."  
>Jolie felt a shift in the environment surrounding her and the personality she was looking upon changed, became older and younger at the same time. Jolie was confused, then realized Atropos must have returned, as the Aspect who cut the threads of life was older physically but younger mentally than Niobe, who was actually her senior in years due to holding the position of Fate twice; each time a different Aspect.<br>Jolie focused her thoughts outside, and heard Niobe soothing her daughter. "I know, my love, but you must do this, even if only until a viable solution can be orchestrated. Do you understand?"  
>Atropos addressed Jolie now, her words like a strong breeze, powerful and direct but with soft and subtle tones. "She'll return soon. We'll warn Satan to mind our words, and if he listens to us or Orb there won't be any more to see."<br>Jolie could hear from Atropo's inflection that the Aspect did not think Parry would be warned off, and Jolie could not agree more; Parry was a willful person, and would likely not be thrilled with any plan that involved him losing the close company of his wives.  
>Jolie thought on this. Technically, they were only threatening to take away his right to sleep with Nature, but since Jolie would unlikely be unable to find another host capable and willing to visit Parry in Hell, they were denying her, too. She frowned. Perhaps that was another reason Fate did not trust her.<br>Jolie was broken from her thoughts by the sound of commotion outside, and saw that Atropos had traded with Niobe once more, and was using her powers to tie Parry to a chair. "You can't do that to him! I thought you were just going to talk?"  
>Niobe's words were soothing. "We are, it's just that Satan is difficult to deal with at best when angered, and we want him to hear our warning clearly, despite his duress. He must know how serious we are so that he has the best chance possible to avoid a less favorable fate."<br>Jolie's voice was edged. "Less favorable than being tied to a chair? If this is a mission of mercy, why do I feel like you are guiding him into something dangerous?"  
>Atropos was back as suddenly as she had left, and it was she who responded. "We ain't gonna hurt him really. He'll be fine either way, but I'll tell you he's in for more rough love if he doesn't quit."<br>Jolie was quiet, watching as Niobe warned Parry one last time. "Goodbye, Satan. Do not cross me."  
>Fate shot a web from seeming nothingness once she had exited the room with Parry and Orb, rocketing along the strand at incredible speeds. Jolie watched, fascinated to see this mode of travel. Niobe herself seemed transluscent as she moved, as it seemed the thread made her intangible as she passed unhindered through the walls of Gaea's castle.<br>The destination she had in mind revealed itself to be her abode in Purgatory, a massive cocoon that hung on impossibly infinite webbing. She approached the door, stepped through, turned and shut it from inside, simply standing there.  
>"Now we wait," said Atropos within the mind setting. "If he has an inkling of sense he won't come knocking on that door, but since we've had a chat with Chronos..."<br>Jolie was surprised by the simple answer to why Fate seemed to nkow how events would play out. "You actually asked him of future events? I thought Incarnations avoided doing that because of the anomolies that could occur from anyone other than Chronos attempting to use that information?"  
>Clotho answered, sounding abashed. "Actually, that's complicated, but the end result is that he came to us and told us something that we can't tell you for the same reason you just stated."<br>Jolie was frustrated with all the secrecy, regardless of how well justified. "I really just wish everything with you people didn't have t be so complicated!"  
>Niobe chimed in from her position of control. "I feel him stepping on my threads outside; I'm going to try and guide him away, I promise, Jolie, but if I cannot, Atropos is going to do what must be done."<br>Jolie started to get a hint of what they intended now, and as she watched the conversation Niobe had with Parry, it escalated to Parry standing and beligerantly shouting, "I have no choice? I am Satan, the Incarnation of Evil, and I will not be balked by you, lesser Incarnation!"  
>Atropos took over shortly after that, but Jolie was already bracing herself to watch what she knew was coming. She had promised Niobe she would not interfere, and though she could demand to be brought back to Orb now, perhaps botching Atropos' discipline of her husband, she could not bring herself to do so.<br>Jolie thought on it and realized that though she was pained to watch Parry humiliated like this, Fate had information she did not on a sound reason for all this. Jolie thought a lot of less than kind things about Niobe, especially now, but she did not believe Fate was a liar.  
>Once Parry had stood and taken his leave, albeit shakily, Jolie asked to be returned to Orb. She had seen enough.<p>

Parry let out an angry exclamation. "You watched the whole thing and didn't help me?" His face was flushed crimson and he shrugged Jolie's hand off of his shouder as he gritted his teeth and worked his hands together on his lap furiously.  
>Jolie gave him a sad look, "I'm sorry, but I had made a promise. Like you, I always keep my word, you know that."<br>Parry nodded, seeming to calm himself but still blushing. Having Orb hear this must have been doubly embarrassing, so Jolie clarified that as well. "Orb already knows of this, I told her everything I witnessed when I returned to her."  
>Parry looked to Orb, shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?"<br>Orb frowned at him. "I did not wish to embarass you with my knowledge, because when I gave you the chance to tell me back at the shipyard, you avoided doing so."  
>Parry felt guilty for the deception now, but his mind quickly acclimatized to the new information. "So Jolie was already back with you at the docks?"<br>Orb nodded and Parry whirled on Jolie. "It was you! You disarmed the charge I placed on that boat!"  
>Jolie gave him an angry look. "Do you seriously think we could knowingly allow you to hurt so many people like that?"<br>Orb piped in, her own voice rife with anger. "And the animals and plants would have been ruined, too! You did not even stop to think how your plan would cause problems for me as Gaea!"  
>Parry stood and pointed at Orb. "Why did you play the innocent when I asked about the carrier, then? How high and mighty you sounded, harping on about being truthful, when you..."<br>Jolie cut him off. "I stopped the bomb alone. At best, Orb only slighted you by not stopping me when I told her my intention."  
>Parry shook with rage, feeling betrayed. "So it is true! Niobe has turned not one both both of you against me!"<br>Orb raised a hand, her face calm, "We aren't against you, Parry. You can realize this from thinking on the story we just told you."  
>"Bull shit!" Parry shouted, "You led me to Niobe because your mother's commands matter more to you than my own well being, and you, Jolie, went along with her despite her aggression against the both of us, then balked me when I had the chance to bring her down a peg!"<br>Orb opened her mouth to speak but Parry raged on. "She has had you both wrapped around her finger this entire time, you ignorant fools! Perhaps it would have been more fitting if she had my office, seeing how easily she has pulled the wool over your eyes!"  
>Orb stood and snatched Parry by the wrist, bearing him down to the couch while he stared in surprise. "You were right after all, Jolie, I never should have argued."<br>Jolie nodded serenely and Parry glanced over in confusion as Orb pulled him over into a position that made him reflexively cringe. Orb's grip was powerful, though, and Parry realized belatedly that here in her castle her strength knew no equal. "What does she mean, what...?"  
>Jolie answered the unfinished question. "I have told Orb that I agree with Fate's methods of bringing you to face your mistakes, and have my own plan, which I believe is what Niobe wanted us to find: our own way."<br>Parry was livid, especially as Orb pulled his britches back to reveal his posterior to both women, raising her hand in a familiar fashion as he began to struggle furiously, panicked by the implication, the bruises still upon his ass seeming to sing with expectant horror.  
>He screamed at Jolie in a rage, his sense of betrayal growing, "You sided with Niobe? Both of you? I can't believe..."<br>Orb piped in as she planted a solid slap on Parry's underside, and Parry realized exactly how sore he in fact was. Already her swats began to send agonizing bolts of pain through him. "No. We are seeing to it that you side with us."  
>Parry tried to scrabble free of Orb's lap frantically, and blushed crimson in embarassment at how he must look to both girls as Orb calmly held him in place as if containing a small boy. "I was already on your side! What you are doing is further humiliating me!"<br>Jolie nodded. "Both are true, but what you must consider is your own implied meaning when you asked Orb to choose sides. You secretly meant 'do as Niobe tells you or do as I tell you'. What we are suggesting in counter is that you instead do what we tell you."  
>Parry gasped as Orb quickly brought his ass to a reddened state, his legs kicking as she solidified her grip on him so that she and the couch kept from from interfering with the spanking. "This is some sort of play for power? You are driving against me, and in doing so you will ruin the purpose of Evil!"<br>Orb shook her head, "No, we only demand you follow our lead concerning our relationship; what you do for your office we shall not intercede. In fact, we encourage you to not show us favor if your office demands you move against us."  
>Jolie added, "For we will not show you any such favor, as in this case." She watched with a raised eyebrow as Parry yelped at a painful slap, noting how much his tolerance for this kind of thing had seemed to weaken. Perhaps it was repetition that lowered his defenses?<br>Parry held onto his anger nontheless, balling his fists where Orb held them and shouting at the two of them. "Then you have declared war on me! Just like all of the others..."  
>"No." Orb scolded him, hiting him hard enough to interrupt his tirade. Parry squirmed at his helpless state as Orb showed him she could hit him harder still. "This arrangement benefits peace between you us and the others. Only if we have command of you rather than the other way around, and can prove that command, will they accept us as lovers."<br>Jolie rubbed his back, "This whole thing is to allow us to be together. As Incarnations sided to Good, you and they can rest assured that we will keep our promise and allow you full sanction over everything associated to your office, because we understand your place in existance is important."  
>Parry's mind reeled at what they were telling him, but one particular point stood out and frightened him, and he asked worriedly, "You said you must 'prove' your command... what do you intend to do?"<br>Orb shifted to pull him tighter into her lap, both so that he would be more comfortable and so that she had easier access to his now bright red cheeks. Parry wriggled as she moved, but if he entertained any hope of escape while she adjusted, it was not realized.  
>After swatting Parry a few times in rapid succession to punish him for fighting her so hard, which evoked a strangled yell from her husband, Orb went on to explain. "We must let them know that we have reined Evil, that you will listen to us explicitly when it is important for you to do so."<br>Parry's face paled at the thought of anyone else further knowing of his shame here. "No..." He grunted and twisted at the stinging in his rear, letting out a strained sound. "How can you not then use that power to tip the balance toward Good when situations press you to do so? What happens when it is do so or I win?"  
>Jolie smiled tartly, "Then you will win. We honor are promises, that is an ineffible part of Good. Also, we really are on 'your side'."<br>Parry gritted him teeth but yelled out sharply regardless as Orb caught him no the seat of his ass. "This is all doomed to fail, though, you must know this; I am a greater Incarnation, and as soon as I leave here, which I must, I will be free of your limited control!"  
>Orb smiled now, shutting out Parry's short-lived sense of victory in the face of adversity. "We have thought all of this through; your going to have to trust us. You know we have your best interests in mind."<br>Parry barked out furiously, reaching the limits of his endurance. "To hell with your plans! You are a fraction of my age, Orb, and I made you into who you are, Jolie! You are both severely underqualified to rule me!"  
>Jolie frowned. "I know we are from a different age, but you are being closed-minded." She glanced over to Orb. "Show him how we feel about closed-mindedness."<br>Orb lay into Parry as never before and he inhaled hard as her hand became a blur of driving slaps. Parry screamed now, losing himself in the pain and unable to hold onto a composure of any sort. "No, stop! Please!"  
>Orb's mouth was a line of concentration as she focused on the discipline. "We will stop when you admit defeat to your wives."<br>Parry glanced at both women in turn with wide eyes, knowing from looking that neither would stop this until they had what they wanted. Orb had always been willful, and Jolie had overcome her own lack of self-confidence long ago and grown an iron will forged by centuries of experience.  
>So they continued in relative silence, the only sound that of the punishment Orb doled on him, and Parry knew that he would have to say it. He resisted despite the horrible burning in his ass, despite how much he wanted to stand and stop trembling upon Orb's lap.<br>He resisted because even if he lied in such an admission, the fact that they had forced it from him would be a sort of proof of their dominance over him. He shook, his muscles tired from spasming and flexing to the beat of the spanking.  
>At long last, though, his bruised buttocks unable to weather his conviction anymore, and his conviction unable to lie against the simple fact that he had lost, Parry gave them their victory, tears already running the length of his cheeks adding to his obvious loss and humiliation. "Fine! You have won! I will do as you ask in all things pertaining to our relationship."<br>Jolie brightened. "Excellent! I shall tell them he is ready." Jolie disappeared abruptly, leaving Orb and Parry alone on the couch.  
>Orb pulled Parry's pants back up with care, aware how much it could hurt to scrape the tender flesh beneath, then she helped him to sitting, though he pulled away from her once upright, looking away in muted fury.<br>They both sat in silence for all of a moment before Parry's eyes met hers in belated shock, "She said she would 'tell them I'm ready'. Who?"  
>Parry tried to stand, but Orb grabbed his wrist and pulled him sitting again, which made him wince. "I'm sorry, love, but we are not done yet, and require your prescence a bit longer. I understand if you hate me, but I know you can you can believe it when I tell you I know what you are going through, and that the goal is worth it."<br>Parry folded his arms across his chest and looked away again, not wanting to show off his tear-stained face. "And what makes you think I would want to be with you, either of you, after this?"  
>Anger burned like a deep core in his voice, and Orb frowned. "Despite what we do here, I hope when you think things through later that you can admit to yourself that it was all for the best."<br>Parry made a dismissive sound, and at that moment Jolie returned, except not alone. Thanatos, War, Fate, and Chronos all stood with her now. Parry growled at the sight of them, wiping at his eyes in a vain attept to hide that he had been crying. "So, you have all come to laugh and mock me. Again."  
>Niobe was the one to speak up, then. "We are all sorry that our predecessors treated you cruelly on your first day in office, but please rememeber that it was not us; we promise not to deal with you in such a way."<br>Jolie stepped forward, adressing Orb. "There's no need to draw this out, let's show them why they are here."  
>Orb nodded and Parry let out a surprised exclamation as she pulled him back over her knees once more. "We are going to let you all see that Jolie and I have the power to enforce a bargain with Satan, and that should he ever try to slip that bargain with a technicality, we can... correct him."<br>Orb pulled down his breeches again without further ado and began to pummel Parry's still sore cheeks once more with the flat of her hand.  
>Parry screamed out in shocked rage at the others all observed this already marked and upturned exposure. "Unhand me! You just swore to do nothing of this sort!" Parry glanced over to see that they were not laughing or jeering, but watching silently with a serious air, and somehow this only served to shame him worse.<br>Jolie spoke before the others could field the accusation. "This is not their doing, but mine and Orb's. I only told them that they would all be needed here when I summoned them. That is all."  
>Parry bucked violently as Orb swatted him, but her hand found him unerringly, and no amount of kicking either freed him or caused her to so much as slow. If anything, she smacked him much harder for his efforts, and eventually his attempts became more feeble as he realized this.<br>Parry regarded Niobe with a hateful stare. "This is all your doing! You played them into thinking it was their idea, but you are behind everything!"  
>Jolie looked about to speak again but Niobe held up a hand to silence her, then shifted to the Clotho Aspect. "Actually, all of this is my doing."<br>Parry stared, confused, but the next stinging slap broke him of his reverie and he howled. "No! I heard Niobe with my own ears, and have heard of how she manipulated both her daughter and Joile!"  
>Clotho shook her head no vehemently. "Niobe was acting as we all were the part I assigned her. It was I who in several weeks time will convince Chronos..." she looked at the Lord of Time and he glanced down, abashed, Clotho blushing herself, "...to tell us two weeks past of something that has yet to occur."<br>Parry was only more perplexed by this, and almost forgot the rythmic jolts of pain for a moment. "What? But how would you have known to ask him?"  
>Clotho waved off the notion. "Technically it is paradox, but fortunately since he was directly involved in the matter, and immune to such, it all somehow works. The important reason though, was that I wanted to help you retain your relationship with Orb, so two weeks hence I shall seek him out."<br>Parry could not keep his voice steady despite his best efforts, and heard the waver caused by his pain there, which in turn made his face flush with embarassment. "So you were calling the shots all along? Why would you care about our sex life?"  
>Clotho gave him a compassionate look. "I've always believed that two people should be able to be together when they were in love. The details of this are not mine, but the concept, yes."<br>Parry snarled at her as the pain reached a creshendo, "I don't care what you believe, you cunt! How dare you meddle in my affairs! I'll see to it that you rue this!"  
>Jolie sighed and waved off Clotho's worried look. "Regardless how we came here, we fully intend to carry this out. Orb, I have the document if you will provide the persuasion."<br>Orb began to spank Parry with renewed fervor, and he arched his back in desperate pain as he screamed loudly, tears welling immediately from the feeling engendered by his now total lack of control. He could only twist helplessly while she whacked him in a way that he could only assume was as hard and fast as she could.  
>Jolie, for her part, produced a slip of paper, which even in his heightened state of agony Parry knew had to be magical since she could lift it. "This is a contract binding you to follow our every word concerning the romantic and or financial and or political side or sides to come in our future relationship.<br>Parry raged at the tears that flowed openly down his face for all to see, and tensed against the continuing onslaught of Orb's hand. "I will sign but this counts as duress! Not to mention that you would be lucky if any sort of relationship continued bewteen us after this!"  
>Jolie nodded. "You have points there, but this is no mortal court, and this blood agreement binds regardless of the terms in which it is signed. Let me tell you that and this in good faith so that you may know the full exent of this before you sign it: the agreement also says that we alone have the right to change it, and it mentions how your signing it now has reverse implications."<br>Parry frowned. "Reverse implications?"  
>Jolie nodded. "Yes, as in, it will also affect the past."<br>Parry screamed against the pain and found he could keep up the bravado no longer against this sort of punishment, a whimper escaping his lips. "Please, I no longer care, just allow me to sign it, you bitch!"  
>Orb reprimanded him, "It's not nice to call your wife a bitch." Parry once more found that Orb had considerably more strength to apply to his tortured ass, and he scrabbled greedily to take the pen proffered by Jolie. Anything to escape the pain.<br>Jolie gave one last statement, "Before you sign, remember that this is an act of total defeat, and you are agreeing not only to us but to all the others that you have been bent to Gaea's will, rather than the other way around.  
>Parry cringed at the words, but no longer cared, sobbing as he scribbled his signiture as fast as he could, cursing the day he had met this woman.<br>Chronos stepped forward. "I will handle things from here. Well done."

Parry smirked, one eyebrow raising, "You make it sound as if you intend some calamity for me."  
>In response Gaea used her powers on him and Parry was thrown into a frenzy of lust more powerful than he had ever felt, his stiffening member sorely demanding release. His wife slowly unwrapped him, taunting him with sultry lips. "I do plan on taking this with or without your permission," she purred.<br>Even as her tongue flicked out teasingly on him, she drew a strange document from seemingly nowhere and held it aloft for him to see. "But just so you see, I do have your permission. You are officially my love slave, Parry."  
>Parry's brow furrowed in confusion and he fought back the dizzying lust that sought to control his thoughts. "What? That is my signiture, when did I?"<br>Orb's voice was soothing in response, "No matter; trust me, there are far worse things to suffer than my love."


End file.
